Remember, we are here just to exaggerate our existence, nothing ever happens if we don't and nothing will. Punk is musical freedom, so grab it by the horns and punch the next bitch you see on the train.

In Aberdeen, I hated my best friends with a passion, because they were idiots (1989)
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I just can’t believe anyone would start a band just to make the scene and be cool and have chicks.
I just can’t believe it (1992)
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It’s really not hard to keep your dignity and sign to a major label.. most people don’t have any dignity in the first place (1992)
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All drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem. They’re no good at all. But I’m not going to go around preaching against them (1992)_________________________________________________________________________________________

I knew I was different. I thought that I might be gay or somethingbecause I couldn’t identify with any of the guys at all. None of them liked art or music,they just wanted to fight and get laid. It was many years ago but itgave me this real hatred for the average American macho male(1991)

If it was up to me, I’d get more oil tanker drivers drunk. I don’t value music much. I like the Beatles, but I hate Paul McCartney. I like Led Zeppelin, but I hate Robert Plant. I like the Who, but I hate Roger Daltrey.~Nirvana Reader 1988-1992~________________________________________________

If I went to jail, at least I wouldn’t have to sign autographs (1992)_________________________________________________________________________________________

Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth. And it happens every few minutes (1991)_____________________________________________

We sound like the Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath.
And, we vomit onstage better than anyone (1992)____________________________________________________________________________

People think of life as being so sacred and they feel like this is their only chance and they have to do something with their life and make an impact
As far as I’m concerned,it’s just a pitstop for the afterlife. It’s just a little test to see how
you can handle reality(1993)_________________________________________________________________________________________

It’s okay to eat fish because they don’t have any feelings__________________________________________________________

We have no right to express
an opinion until we know all of the answers_______________________________________________

You can’t buy happiness===================

Birds are and always have been reincarnated old men with Tourette’s
syndrome having somehow managed to dupe the reproductive saga.
They fuck each other and tend to their home repairs and children
while never missing their true mission. To scream at the top of their
lungs in horrified hellish rage every morning at daybreak
to warn us all of the truth. They know the truth. Screaming bloody
murder all over the world in our ears, but sadly we don’t speak bird

It’s okay to eat fish because they don’t have any feelings
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I can’t comment on Soundgarden because I know them personallyand I really like them a lot, but I have strong feelings towards
Pearl Jam and Alice In Chainsand bands like that. They’re obviously just corporate puppets
that are just trying to jump on the alternativebandwagon – and we are being lumped into that category(1992)
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I have very bad posture
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Dreaming of the person you want to be is wasting the person you already are
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I feel compelled to say fuck you fuck you to those of you who have absolutely no regard for me as a person. You have raped me harder than you’ll ever know. So again I say fuck you although this phrase has totally lost its meaning. FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU
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Hi, my name is Kurt Cobain, I’m homosexual,
I’m a pagan, I’m a drug abuser, and I like to fuck pot-bellied pigs!
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I’m worse at what I do best

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No True Talent is fully organic. Yet the superior talented have not only control of studybut that extra special, little gift at birth–fueled by passion.A built in, totally spiritual, unexplainable, New Age,fuckin cosmic energy bursting love for passion. And yes,they are an even smaller percent amongst the small percent. And they are special!
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Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes.
The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women
about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men
not to rape. Go to the source and start there
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I use bits and pieces of others personalities to form my own
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This song is dedicated to Frank Zappa, and River Phoenix, Fred Gwynne who played Herman Munster, Dixie Lee Ray, Thomas P, Tip O’Neil, and you, dumb ass, who just threw water on me
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Birds…scream at the top of their lungs in horrified hellish rage every morning at
daybreak to warn us all of the truth. They know the truth. Screaming bloody
murder all over the world in our ears, but sadly we don’t speak bird
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All In All Is All We Are
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Drugs are bad for you. They will fuck you up
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I can’t play [guitar] like Segovia. The flip side of that is that Segovia could probably never have played like me (Fall 1994)
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I’m not mad. I’m in a perfectly happy mood
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In 2002, a bunch of noisy kids got together to form a side project that became known as Suicide Silence. At the time of its inception, the 6-piece scremeo from California saw Mitch Lucker and Tanner Womack assuming the vocal duties. However after Suicide Silence’s first show, Womack was fired leaving Lucker as the frontman of the band until his death in 2012.

It wasn’t until 2004 through the release of their second demo that Suicide Silence became a household name within the deathcore circle hence establishing the band as a firm favourites on Metal’s floor. Noting the reception that was pouring in, Suicide Silence started taking the band seriously no longer treating it as a side project. The band’s frontman Lucker became a permanent fixture in the scene and was keen to emphasise that Suicide Silence was trying to established their own brand despite of getting lumbered in with typical metal or deathcore bands.

Lucker who cited influences from bands he grew up listening to such as Korn, Slipknot and Deftones was a bundle of energy on the stage proving himself at every turn of the event and winning a militant of fans worldwide. It was tough body of work the genre threw at them but Suicide Silence were never the ones who would shy away from such hindrance as they kept marching forward and releasing a hefty amount of songs and lyrics that drew in controversial insight towards their standing.

Suicide Silence has worked their asses off to arrive at a place where they could literally called themselves the stars and were not about to be thrown off by a small dent to their reputation. After all reputation in deathcore was trivial it was the scream and growl that set the image of a band and Suicide Silence had plenty of that. On stage Lucker demonstrated himself accordingly, playing the part of the vocalist he was, which at times appeared to be angry, ferocious, cohesive but also sublime. To this man, it was his obligation towards the fans that brought out the outward rebellion in him because outside of the media’s magnifying lens, he was a dotting father and a loving husband.

In October 2012, just about 1 week after turning 28, Lucker met an accident that claimed his life on November 1st. Two hours before the fatal crash Lucker tweeted his picture, which could have been his inspiration for halloween night. Looking as elegant as ever despite carrying the crude and insensitive persona of the band, he was clad in a suit with face masked with skeletal drawing. A caption read: The Dead Are Living.

The former member of Suicide Silence was reported to have lost control of his bike and crashed into a lamp poll throwing him off before it continued sliding and hitting a car. Lucker was treated by paramedics before he was transferred to the medical centre where he died the following day at 6:17 in the morning. His wife later came forward and declared that Lucker was highly intoxicated at the time he left home and despite her trying to stop him from leaving, he still left. Lucker leaves behind his wife, Jolie Lucker whom he married in 2010 and his 5 year old daughter Kenadee who was especially close to him.

In the wake of this tragedy, Suicide Silence members has raised the Kenadee Lucker Education Funds and has continued to promote donation to secure the late frontman’s only daughter’s future education.

1 November 2013 will mark as the first anniversary for the late Mitch Lucker who was a dotting father, a loving husband and a force that drove Suicide Silence to the pinnacle of their success and we remember him the way he was, a sweet and gentle soul among the soaring riffs and brutal music. RIP Mitch Lucker, for the great times in music, for the exceptional masterpieces and for the authentic disposition that brought light to many hearts for the past 10 years.

If she stares at the door, daddy won’t come home
If she decides to be silent, daddy still won’t come home
And if she prays hard to God to bring daddy home,
the echoes lingers and the silence roams
She misses her dad, she loves him so much
If only love was ever enough
Daddy would still be here among us
Watching her grow without a fuss
Daddy loved her and he did care
for all the wonderful things he wanted to share
But the time was near and his youth short-lived
Daddy left one night on his speeding riffs
Somewhere in between lied his tragedy
His final breath and a calling
The bike he loved so much
Took away everything
Rest in Peace dear daddy
To the little angel-face, beautiful Kenadee
Through this life of pain and tragedy
Stay strong for the love and his memory

Mitch Lucker’s daughter turns 6 this year and she was only 5 when her dad died in a horrible crash leaving her and her mom behind. He was only 28 with so much to live for especially for the baby that he has loved so dearly. He would be missing her birthdays, Chritmas, her graduation and so much more and if he had predicted his death or seen it coming, he wouldn’t have taken his bike out that night and confront death heads on. There is a small child who might still be missing her dad until today and wondering what happened every now and then. They were close to each other and spent many moment of excitements together as pictured above and one that is so touching is the way he held her on stage. His twitter message was purely coincidental since it was Halloween night and he was dressed as a skeleton in suit, which does not indicate he saw anything coming or purposely crashed his bike. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers if you wish too, but do not leave ill insights of your holy predictions for it doesn’t only insults him but also his family.

Another metaphoric delivery from the quintet would be Immortality. True to its meaning, Immortality stands as a proof to Pearl Jam’s sight and sounds making them the band who was always destined for big things.

Above anything else, Pearl Jam transcends through their precision, intensity and ferocity and Corduroy is one of the many standing testimony to the fact. It has all the concept and principles of Pearl Jam and would remind you of their early days when they use to take the stage for live shows – those were the days man, those were the days! How you wished you were there to catch Eddie Vedder doing his iconic stage dive, we beg to be transported to the early 90s!

Still very much stuck at PJ’s sophomore efforts, Ten would always be one of the best albums from the Seattle-based punk-rock band of the early 90s. You won’t believe that Ocean was some of their earliest work as Pearl Jam because of the strength that each song demonstrates, they appeared to have been doing this for a very long time. Here’s the valour of PJ, through the times when they first won over a militant of army.

Indifference conveys a message of sheer confidence and pure honesty. There’s not a moment where you can capture their flaw for here is the exceptional truth, PJ is flawlessly flawed and no matter how goofy they tried to be while they were young and carefree, they went on inducting some of rock’s most delicate and beautiful tunes to date. Almost everything in this song is pure goosebumps!

Rearview Mirror would show you that there’s far more at play than just the simple contract. It’s beneath the surface much of the enchantment lies and to speed things up, here’s a sonic soundscape production that would guarantee you bouncing in no time at all.

The sweeping melodies and the crushing tune laced with soft whispering vocals in the beginning of the song only goes to show what PJ can do and how much they can drive that energy to a soaring conclusion. Another personal best.

Eddie’s golden baritone stands at its highest and most sublime moment in this song. There’s the same execution but there’s a little more shift in the trembling and breaks between the chords that many singers would find it hard to execute with such perfection but then who are we kidding, this is Eddie Vedder and even when we don’t expect him to be the messiah, we can’t help to worship the man to some extend. Perhaps its just due to the fact that in recent century, you will never find an effort as majestic as this.

Ever had the feeling of wanting to return to the 90s or just back to the days when Seattle was brooding with its effortless talents out of the domestic punk circa? Well, here it is, Mind Your Manners will take you there to a time when music was honest and pure. The song takes on the fundamental base of punk and Eddie’s soaring grandeur in the execution just reminds us back to the days when music was high on the agenda, hearts were young and concerts were thrown day in day out. This is it, after a short hiatus, Pearl Jam returns just to show you that after over 2 decades of historical touchstones, they are still very much the young guns at heart.

Others Must Check Out:

If we could, we would have placed all the songs in one long list that would have taken us days to finish since we are listening in between. Each song has a story to tell, weather its about love, life, lost or just the experience of living through the world of music, it touches the core of your soul and that’s why Pearl Jam is probably the most authentic band of recent century. We are preaching the truth and practising it just the same. Here are some of the tracks that came in high in votes that we thought should not miss the list.

To pick 10 songs out of the Seattle four-piece band, Pearl Jam’s heavy and extraordinary touchstone would serve as a discriminatory act towards their extensive backtrack catalog that has too many songs that fits the top10 or 20 profile. Pearl Jam could easily be one of the most hard working bands in the scene and it’s impossible to pick just a few and honour them as the most illustrative work since there’s too many that fits the bill. Pear Jam’s debut album, Ten itself has too many choices let alone their extensive and competitive archive put together. So we put together 20 songs, which still somehow is not enough to justify the band’s credibility but for those who are looking to jumpstart the adoration and commitment towards the early-90s genre-defining quartet’s, here you go:

Pearl Jam’s die hard fans would already know why Black would always top the list so for those who don’t, check out the song and perhaps after that, you too would relate to the tune like the rest of us. Black took its lush debut through PJ’s infancy and became the epiphany of the band and has left to tell a story of life’s most absurd reality. It seems for Black the band and the vocalist has given its all, stood behind every single word with everything they they had in creating such a melancholic vibe for this particular beat.

Still from the Ten‘s vault, what can we say, after 2 decades Alive sounds as fresh as the day it first took birth. Pure and beautiful like the blossoming of summer and hits every nerve and does its job without fail, every single time.

It’s clear what Jeremy has done for the band and its not hard to see why Jeremy has served as the epitome of Pearl Jam’s extraordinary archives. The lyrics to this song is self explanatory so there’s not much explanation required to why so many of us could relate to Jeremy and the vast absurdity it holds in the modern day’s family’s demographic structure.

Ten has marked a plethora of award in the grunge uniform for beating the odds and appearing right at the top of the charts shortly after fellow Seattle band mates kicked down the doors for other musicians to rise in the inception of their fame. Ten remarkable flow and authenticity would remain an all time favourite even if PJ were to release a hundred more albums (we sure bid them good health in doing so). Another exceptional song that was an immediate fan’s favourite was definitely Even Flow. As smooth going as it was, Vedder pinches the tone and lyrics with his remarkable diversity as he speeds up and slows down at every turn of the beat.

There’s so many wonderful things about Pearl Jam that words alone cannot justify for no words is enough to press their grandeur in the scene. Pearl Jam definitely strikes a chord with their audience through Better Man thus establishing their position as the greatest band in the music history.

Infusing his lyrics with tragedy, Vedder tries to break free from the morbid days of his own childhood thus establishing a connection with fans through songs and emotions that many can relate to. Daughter weds a sprawling dynamics of raw emotion with three times the effect.

Garden echoes with melancholy and poignancy making it one of the most beautiful song out of Ten‘s exceptional credibility. Vedder reaches to the depth of his soul to depict Garden‘s perfection resulting a deep connection of vocals laced in sadness and a framework that will cultivate throughout generation of worshippers.

Given their humble beginnings, the irony is not lost. Nothingman is everything Pearl Jam has stood for, and its their own testament to an everlasting ‘vitalogy’. You don’t need anymore reason to listen to PJ, this alone is reason enough.

We embed a special video for this one just to show you what PJ is made of. Last Kiss came so much later when they didn’t need anymore media approvals or grand publicity stunts to upheld their reputation. They have arrived to where they should be but here you can witness, where humility, modesty and passion is concern, Pearl Jam is still pretty much the same old guys they used to be back in the 90s.

There’s no doubt how beautifully RHCP has developed over the years and despite their eccentric demonstrations and vile behaviours, they’ve had some treasures brewing within their extensive dome, which till today still stands as part of their exclusive attributions to the music scene for over 2 decades now. In spite of ringing out the culture that was so often laced with addiction, they have somehow managed to arrive in 2013 – and alive! Sadly though, not all of them made it. John Frusciante may have played a signifying role in RHCP‘s backtrack catalog but before Frusciante, there was Hillel Slovak.

Hillel who was born on April 13, 1962 in Acre, Israel was the founding member and original guitarist of RHCP, a famous California based rock band that was formed back in 1983 with drummer, Jack Irons. Slovak and Irons had known each other since childhood and had developed a close bond very early in their lives.

Hillel developed his musical talent early in his life when he started playing the guitar at 13 years old shortly after receiving it as a birthday present from his uncle. Both Hillel and Irons were a big fan of the band KISS and would often dress up like their favourite band members with heavy make-up and do miming to all their songs. Hillel was extremely serious in learning how to play the guitar and since he was also a big fan of Jimi Hendrix, he would practise hard at perfecting his art. He spent much of his time listening, studying, working and copying Hendrix‘s style to perfection thus opening a career path in music.

Hillel met Anthony Kiedis when he spotted Kiedis wearing ‘Anthym‘ pin badge (which was one of Hillel’s previous band) and invited Kiedis to hang out and through Kiedis, he eventually met Flea. Now, Flea could be one of the greatest bassist in the music industry today but he was formerly a trumpet player with no prior training or even interest towards playing the bass. Hillel was the one who taught Flea how to play bass. At the time RHCP was formed, Hillel and Irons were still with ‘What is Hits‘ so when both group was offered recording deals, Hillel decided to go with What Is Hits instead of RHCP as he found the former to be a more serious band and better career choice between the two. RHCP who was also offered a recording deal at the same time however decided to proceed the recording by replacing both Slovak and Irons position and role in the group.

What It Hits failed to reached the success that the group hoped for and Hillel started having doubts over his decisions of joining What Is Hits and expressed his desires to return to RHCP to Anthony Kiedis. He came back to RHCP in time for their second album ‘Freaky Styley’, which was released in August 1985 and Jack Irons returned to RHCP the following year as the band released their 3rd album, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan released in 1986.

Hillel’s return to RHCP also marked the time where he got heavily involved with drugs and together with Kiedis who shared similar passion with Hillel in using dope, the whole debauchery started to effect their performance. Kiedis took off to the rehab several times to kick off the habit and somehow the band managed to work through their problems to see the issue of ‘Me And My Friends’ – a track that was mainly about their friendship, which marked Slovak’s name in the lyrics. This significant moment and track marked as one of Hillel‘s happiest time in RHCP.

While Kiedis has sought help for his addiction on multiple occasion, he somehow always returned to the same path. From there onwards, the focus was heavily placed on him as his addiction became worst and everyone was afraid that he was just going to die one of these days. He was taking heroin in huge volumes and his addiction demanded frequent usage so almost everyone knew and was clear about his misadventures. Hillel on the other hand was more astute in his addiction and was far more crafty at covering his tracks. It could also be said that he made a mistake into believing that he had his addiction under control and created an ambience, in which he was in total control of his escapade that soon turned out to be a form of denial.

“They were all afraid that I was going to die because I would just take too much too often for too long a period of time,” Kiedis would confess. “Hillel was much more subtle and much more cunning in his disguise. He had everyone believing he had it under control…He was just more in denial. Hillel thought he had power over the dark side.”

From Jeff Apter’s book: Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story’

Not too long after that Hillel’s overall stature started to deteriorate and the band finally realised that he was in far more malady than Kiedis. Hillel‘s condition worsened at the time the band embarked on their The Uplift Mofo Party Plan tour and he appeared to be falling dangerously off track. Hillel almost got fired from the band and his brother was notified about his worsening condition. Angelo Moore managed to talk Kiedis out doing so telling him that Hillel needed all the support he could get from his friend throughout the treacherous times. The band continued to tour and both Hillel and Kiedis vowed to stop using drugs throughout the tour since there was lack of dealer’s contacts abroad and the excuse was a befitting bargaining chip.

Like every other addict who is stuck far in the web of heroin addiction, Hillel and Kiedis made many attempts at taking the final vow of quitting the drug forever and like it’s always bound to happen, whenever the line was clear and the dealer was near, that’s the first place they headed to and that’s exactly what happened when they arrived back in LA. Having stopped doing heroin for a notable period of time, upon arriving in LA the urge to start using again and the yearning for another hit started to nest in their minds. So Hillel took the shortest route of committing to his addiction as he went straight to his dealers and scored some stash. Weather the heroin was just too strong or the result in the gap of usage, the final hit somehow contributed to his final breath in this world. Hillel died while trying to finish his final painting hunched over it while the heat of his cigarette painted a hole into the canvas. The art became the final witness to his end. He was found 2 days after his initial death.

Hillel’s final painting with a cigarette butt hole visible on the canvas

As the Jewish custom had it, Hillel went through an autopsy on the 29 June 1988 and was buried the following day at the Jewish section (Mount Sinai Memorial Park) of Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles. He was only 26 years old. All members of RHCP was present at his memorial with the exception of Anthony Kiedis who fled to Mexico on a drugs binge for being unable to cope with Hillel‘s death. Most people only found out about the young guitarist death from the obituary section in L.A Times.

Jack Irons also left the band after as he became extremely depressed with Hillel‘s passing and wasn’t able to cope with it and became clinically depressed. Kiedis and Flea continued RHCP to honour Hillel‘s legacy since the band was formed by him and it would be a tribute for his honorary contribution to the music scene.

Josh Frusciante who replaced Hillel as the band’s new guitarist also stated that he learned the ways Hillel played guitar for the band and had converse with Hillel a few months before his death.

Kiedis eventually visited Hillel’s grave sometime later after much persuasion from his councelor, Bob Timmons so Kiedis can move on from the melancholic phase of loosing a good friend, a brother and beloved band member. Kiedis who at first had no desire to be there, eventually opened up and within minutes was crying at the sight as he bid his final goodbye to one of music’s most promising guitarist and the original member of RHCP.

Hillel’s artwork, diaries and letters were published by his brother in 1999 to honour the memories of the young and talented guitarist, ‘Behind the Sun: The Diary and Art of Hillel Slovak.’

As the late 80s started to sign a brighter hope in Seattle‘s morbid hemisphere (remember – it always rains in Seattle?) the music industry quivered with the prospect that Seattle has finally found its next star product following the ever so magnetic Jimi Hendrix and the man was none other than Mother Love Bone’s front man, Andrew Wood. The acceptance towards Mother Love Bone as the succeeding historical touchstones of the city’s sullied almanac has reached fever pitched and there was no longer a doubt that once their album hits the dawn of the daylight, the band will carry the crown home. There was no better time for Mother Love Bone to finally make their lush debut, as they have shined at predominantly at creating an impression while Wood’s self-imposed Britishglam-rock benchmark cemented him as one of Seattle’s finest products to date. Unfortunately for Seattle, Wood jumped of to the deep end when he died from an alleged heroin overdose just a few months before the album, Apple was due to change his live and the entire demographic structure of Seattle’s underground music archives, was scheduled to hit the stores thus ending Seattle’s hopes and dreams for the aspiring young idol.

Andrew Patrick Wood, the youngest of 3 brothers was born in January 8, 1966 in Columbus, Mississippi and started experimenting music at a very young age. In 1980, Wood‘s who was 14 formed Malfunkshun with his brother, Kevin and the band’s lush debut instantly established Malfunkshun as the scene’s firm favourites ultimately uplifting their names in the Seattle alternative music show ground. Malfunkshun recorded its first demo in April 1980 and in the following years as they started to open for Seattle’s subversive bands such as Soundgarden, The U-Men, and Skin Yard, the pressure of spotlight fell greatly on Wood for a number of reasons.

Often referred to as a startling composition between the legendary front man of the The Door’s, Jim Morrison and Marc Bolan of T-Rex, musically Wood was more aligned to the early 70s British rock personified bands such as Queen and T-Rex while adapting to the comically obscene glam-rock fashion that was widely popularised by British acts such as T-Rex and David Bowie among others and Lou Reed, The New York Dolls and Jobriath in US. Although facing decline halfway through the mid 70s, glam rock was occasionally revived throughout 90s and has since influenced punk, gothic rock and more.

Still early in his inception, Wood was already causing quit the stir in the industry and in doing so managed to turn some heads in his way. Andy Wood’s was blessed with the whole hermaphrodite visage, spunk and charisma of his former antecedents; the ever so flawless lions of hard rock such as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page from the Led’s, Patti Smith, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and the rest that was hardly seen in the new and upcoming band of the mid to late 80s. Taking the spirit of fashion to the heart, Andrew Wood would often take the stage dolled up in heavy make up and daring plus outrages clothes through his stage alter-ego, Landrew The Love Child.

In 1985, while the music was slowly picking up the speed and flair of the mainstream arena, it also somehow ignited the cultural shift in the opium trade as Seattle started to witness a rise in the heroin transaction while youth turned to the substance as the ultimate drugs of choice. Andy Wood became one of the many youth who started falling into the heroin trapping but managed to steer off the path when he got himself admitted to a rehab in the same year. After cleaning up his act, Wood and Malfunkshun continued performing around Seattle picking up a steady flow of partisans who were growing in volumes by then. Andy Wood and Green River are still upheld as the real forefathers of grunge in the early Seattle underground movement.

Although Malfunkshun recorded a hefty stash of demos throughout their reign, they never officially released an album and were also turned down by Sub Pop, a famous Seattle-based record label who would continue to sign Nirvana as they found Malfunkshun not grunge enough to grace their map of existing artists since the record label was highly committed in fronting bands that were inclined to the soaring trends of grunge. Even without a proper record label to fluctuate Malfunkshun’s talents further into stardom, two of Malfunkshun’s songs ‘With Yo’ Heart (Not Yo’ Hands) and Stars-n-You were compiled in the legendary Deep Six Compilation Album released by C/Z Records in 1986. That served as the last credits to the Mulfunkshun’s catalog as the band disbanded two years later in 1988.

Shortly after Malfunkshun pulled the plug on the band, Wood and Hagar started jamming with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of the Green River, which also met its end in the same year. Together, they started performing under the pseudonym Lords of the Wasteland until former Green River guitarist Bruce Fairweather joined the band followed by Skin Yard’s drummer Greg Gilmore replacing Hagar. The band was later baptised as Mother Love Bone. The formation of Mother Love Bone saw a heavy collision of two power pack band members who had equal fame, talents and cult in the scene and this further upheld the band’s reputation than anyone could have dared to comprehend. In 1989, the band signed a deal with Polygram and issued a six-song EP, Shine through their sub label, Stardog.

Mother Love Bone newly released EP, Shine was later cited as a form of dedication to the whole Seattle music hubbub by John Book. In 1989, the band started recording their debut album while simultaneously going on tours and supporting bands like the The Dogs D’Amour. With such high hopes and expectations placed on Mother Love Bone’s upcoming album (later called Apple), Wood started to acknowledge his struggles with the heightening need and desire for heroin addiction, he once again checked into a rehab in 1989 hoping to kick the habit before the album release staying there till the end of the year.

In the dawn of 1990, the band continued to play gigs in Seattle while they waited for the release of their first studio album, Apple.

However, Seattle’s exceptional jewel of the year did not live long to enjoy the kind of reception that the band’s album would live to harbour when his girlfriend found him in a state of comatose (where casualties falls into a deep sleep and looses all sense of response to touch or sometimes having no or little ability to response thus diminishing any signs of brain activities) after overdosing on an alleged lethal dose of heroin. Wood was immediately rushed to the Harborview Hospital and placed on life support. Wood suffered a haemorrhage aneurysm and despite of being responsive he had lost all brain functions. Andrew Wood was removed from life support on the 19 March 1990 following the physician’s suggestion thus marking his biological time of death. It also marked the day where Seattle was shaken to the core of its very foundation for having to loose yet another of its star studded son who was destined for greater things in life.

Apple may be one of the first great hard-rock records of the 90s and Andrew Wood could have been the first of the big-league Seattle rock stars – David Browne of The New York Times

Apple opened to an overall positive review from the critics and was well received by fans.

All members of Mother Love Bone broke up shortly after Wood’s death and went their separate ways. However, Gossard and Ament reconcile after much persuasion from Mike McCready and set out to form a new band that would later be known as Pearl Jam with Eddie Vedder of Broken Radio as the band’s front man.

In the following year, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, a long time friend of Wood’s who was also a former roommate erected Temple Of The Dog as homage for the fallen hero. Cornell who already wrote two songs, ‘Reach Down’ and ‘Say hello 2 heaven’ approached Gossard, Ament (who were Mother Love Bone’s former members) and McCready to record the songs as singles before all of them reached to an agreement of releasing a full album dedicated to Wood. Mat Cameron joins Temple as the drummer and the San Diego based musician and surfer, Eddie Vedder who came down for an audition for the future Pearl Jam would also end up as a contributing vocalist with a duet between Cornell and Vedder on ‘Hunger Strike’ on Temple of The Dog’s self titled one and only debut album released in 1991.

Temple disband after the album release and all existing members returned to their respective bands, which later sees the formation of Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam first and major debut, Ten would open to international stardom shortly after Nirvana’s‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ breaks the barrier of the Seattle’s underground movement simultaneously uplifting it to the shiny pop spectrum of the mainstream arena. Pearl Jam’s newfound fame saw Temple’s previous work coming back to the spotlight that it so richly deserved.

Alice in Chains members debuted ‘Would?’ to Wood’s memories also including other fallen hero’s of the music society who died as a result of heroin addiction in their second album Dirt.

I was thinking a lot about Andrew Wood at the time. We always had a great time when we did hang out, much like Chris Cornell and I do. There was never really a serious moment or conversation, it was all fun. Andy was a hilarious guy, full of life and it was really sad to lose him. But I always hate people who judge the decisions others make. So it was also directed towards people who pass judgments. – Jerry Cantrell

Both Shine and Apple were reissued by PolyGram in 1992 as part of the Mother Love Bone compilation album while Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns was included on the soundtrack to the film Singles.

Faster Pussycat, an LA-based band also wrote a song in tribute to Wood’s called Mr. Lovedog from the album Whipped!Allmusic’s, Bradley Torreano, described the song as a sad requiem to the passing of yet another charismatic figure in the metal world.

Continuing the tradition in the memory of the late Andrew Wood, another Seattle grunge band, Candlebox released their self-title debut featuring the single Far Behind, which was made to his name in 1993 followed by former band mate Stone Gossard who compiled all of Malfunkshun’s early recordings and releasing it as a compilation album, Return to Olympus.

A documentary was finally made in commemorating Andrew Wood’s musical career in 2005 by director Scot Barbour entitled, Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story. The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival followed by FAIF Film Festival in Hollywood, California in the same year. The film was released in 2011 on DVD as part of a 2CD+DVD set entitled Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story including the Return to Olympus album, a bonus CD including many interviews and demos and the movie on the DVD disc.

Kurt Cobain did not hate Eddie Vedder neither did Eddie hated Cobain. Hate is such a strong word to describe what seemed to be a temporary brawl or dispute of interest that happens awfully a lot in the industry. Thus, our cyber Einstein’s had made it their mission to further pursue the subject into the modern century as they drool over the issue for years if not decades. While that is extremely admirable if the intentions are purely focused on keeping the memories alive, but most often than not, the information supplied to the thesis are usually untrue and in some cases are exaggerated beyond the whole biblical truth.

Remember that we have all gone through a phase of ‘devil-may-care’ attitude and some of us has even been beaten for the fortitude. Just like that 23 years ago our dear grunge prince Kurt Cobain and our favourite grunge ambassador Eddie Vedder were kids and that will further testify to the whole ‘life begins at 40s’ ideology. Even if we believe that Vedder grew up way ahead of his years for amassing such a graceful and professional attitude over the whole dispute that was truly nothing to begin with, sometimes some childish behaviour are totally unavoidable.

1991 was the year where Nirvana drove punk in simultaneously pushing the claustrophobic envelope further into the pop shiny spectrum by breaking the barriers of Seattle’s inner layers of subversive music and the lateral universe of rock stardom. The achievement was reached in such biblical ways that it broke out as a pandemonium that was beyond words. But to say that the late frontman of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was the forefather of Grunge or Punk would truly be an overstatement to the actual thesis for neither, he nor Eddie was the forefather of Grunge. Punk was already there, its seed was already planted, and the ones who planted this would stretch way back in history so for now let’s just stick to the subterranean facts of Seattle underground culture and its propellers who were none other than Andy Wood (January 8, 1966 – March 19, 1990) Mother Love Bone, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Mudhoney among others.

This was evident through their earliest work such as Apple, which was released 3 months (July 1990) after Mother Love Bone’s frontman decease. Mother Love Bone in its inception was predicted to become one of the greatest bands in due time and Andy Wood as the first of the big-league Seattle rock star.

The truth could be that Pearl Jam were one of the first representative of punk rock in its purest form but that does not cut of Nirvana from the scheme as Bleach was the proof to Nirvana’s notability as a very functional band that will lead the whole underground pandemonium to such exceptional heights. While ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ earned its keep in the Nirvana’s vault, Ten did it for Pearl Jam as they continued to uplift the culture forward. However, to the British media’s dismay, NME published an article stating that Pearl Jam was just trying to steal money from young alternative kid’s pockets and Cobain further instigated the statement with his own version of: Pearl Jam being commercial sellouts and argued that Ten was not a true alternative album because it had to many prominent guitar lead.

Oh well, the so called commercial sell out who were trying to steal money from the young alternative kids pockets actually retreated from limelight and would rather not earn a single keep as long as their fans were being cheated by Ticketmaster who subjected fans to an extra fee for service charges. So yeah, so much for being the commercial sell-out they weren’t.

The publicity shy Eddie Vedder who almost quit music in 1993 due to the intense pressure the band had to face at their prime stated that none of them would be here if it wasn’t for Nirvana. It was to Vedder’s mastery that he took the negative and converted it into such positive vibes that the two finally came into an agreement and the dispute was forever lost.

In a 1992 Interview Kurt Cobain finally stated:

I’m bowing down gracefully and taking off my crown and I’m giving it over to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. He’s now the representative of the youth of America – October 30, 1992

When asked if he was doing so in favour of his newfound role as a father and husband, he replied:

‘Because Eddie Vedder stole my looks, and wears it better than I’

Oh well, we were all jealous of Eddie Vedder at one point that we could and would all die for his ‘Greek-God’ looks and Golden Baritones as much as his overall charismatic and humble poise. So we can relate to Cobain and his tiny little pang of jealousy towards Vedder when they were both still too young to notice anything below the music they were so engulfed with.

Kurt Cobain on the other hand was just living up to his own words of:

I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.

That seems admirable but he would later come out and say that Eddie was the nicest person in the industry. Thanks Cobain for making us confuse just like you. But as we all know, there was no love lost between the two. It was the kindred spirits kind of dispute that even passes through the relationships of blood brothers. And the story ended well for the two with a solid slow dance and watching the beautiful moment the two shared backstage, we were almost flinching on our seats thinking that even Cobain would end up smooching Eddie that day the was Kiedis did. Poor Eddie got ‘French-ed’ earlier in the day when Anthony Kiedis grabbed him for a lovey-dovey Frenchy’

Eddie Vedder further quotes to the moments below:

You see Kurt looking over and go like this (puts finger to lips) and it’s not saying, ‘Don’t tell anybody’ or ‘Keep the lid on this little private moment.’ It was actually because on the stage above us, Eric Clapton was playing ‘Tears In Heaven’.